How To Add A Background Image To The Taskbar In Windows 10

You can set a desktop background and lock screen background of your choice in Windows 10. Windows 10 offers images via Windows Spotlight for you to use, or you can use an image from your own collection of wallpapers. Windows is far less flexible with the taskbar. You can only enable or disable accent colors for it, nothing else. That said, outside of the default Windows settings, you can use third-party apps to customize the taskbar. Classic Shell is a popular app that you can use to add a background image to the taskbar in Windows 10.

Classic Shell is a tool known for restoring the Start Menu in Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10 to the classic Windows 7 version. If you like the default Windows 10 Start Menu, you don’t have to change it. You can keep using it and still add a background image to the taskbar with Classic Shell.

Taskbar Background Image

You can use just about image for the taskbar background however, if you find one that is the exact size as the taskbar, you will get something that is aesthetically good looking. To find the size of your taskbar, take a screenshot and use a tool like IrfanView to select it and find its dimensions.

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Next, go to the Taskbar tab. Select the ‘Taskbar texture’ option, and use the browse button to select the image you intended to use for the taskbar background. Click Ok, and you’re good to go.

This is what the taskbar looks like with a properly sized image as the background.

If you’re using a minimal wallpaper as your desktop background, a fun background image for the taskbar might make your desktop look better. This is all aesthetics of course. It’s not going to make anything work better. In fact, if you have a particularly old system, Classic Shell might slow it down a bit. You will need to set the app to start when you boot your system if you don’t want to start it manually and again, that will delay system start.